50 Best Movie Heroines of All Time

Sometimes moms and dads really want to introduce their daughters to a movie that doesn't involve Disney princesses waiting patiently for their princes to come. For those times, there is this list: a collection of 50 female movie characters designed to show girls of various ages—the younger elementary schoolers all the way up to the teens—that being smart, feisty and independent is something to be celebrated.

In a film series about the Boy Who Lives, Hermione is the girl who makes Harry's survival possible. Her knowledge about spells and horcruxes saves the day over and over again. And given how many kids have seen and will continue to see the eight movies, Emma Watson's Hermione may be the whip-smart know-it-all with the greatest all-time cinematic impact.

In what may be the most beloved of Hayao Miyazaki's films, a girl crosses into a bizarre realm where her parents are suddenly pigs and she must find the bravery and work ethic to return to a more conventional reality.

There are not nearly enough family-friendly movies that place Black girls in the protagonist's role. Thankfully, there's this one about a masterful speller who's laser-focused on winning that national bee.

The quintessential horse story finds an already-stunning Elizabeth Taylor in the role of Velvet, a girl so determined to win the big race that she craftily disguises herself as a male jockey to make it happen.

Can a woman fight just as effectively as a man? According to this Disney film, about a Chinese girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can go to war in her father's stead, the answer is yes.

Any of the many actresses in the various Little Women adaptations make worthwhile female protagonists. But since Winona Ryder played Louisa May Alcott's gutsy, aspiring writer most recently, her portrayal may resonate more strongly with contemporary girls.

She's the rare Disney princess of color and one who actually works for a living. In fact, Tiana's great wish is not to marry, but to open her own restaurant.

Let's set aside, if possible, the whole brouhaha over Merida's recent Disney princess makeover. Instead let's consider her based solely on who she is in the first Pixar movie focused squarely on a female protagonist: a skilled archer with an untamable head of hair, no interest in marriage and an abiding love for her mother.

Yes, the empowered young female for the post-millennial generation sets a strong example for young women . . . if parents can overlook her participation in a competition that requires her to kill her peers. She's steely, scrappy, loyal to her family and a survivor who finds the odds ever in her favor, because she works hard to make sure they stay there.

Keisha Castle-Hughes remains one of the youngest Academy Award nominees for best actress due to her forceful, empathetic performance as a girl determined to break with Maori tradition and prove to her grandfather that girls can be true leaders, too.

The pert-nosed little Santa Claus doubter may be a bit too worldly and jaded for her own good. But as Natalie Wood plays her, she's also ferociously intelligent and still innocent enough to believe in the magic of Kris Kringle.

Considering she crash landed in a strange place populated by munchkins, flying monkeys and talking straw men, Dorothy should be commended for pulling herself up by her gingham dress, navigating the yellow brick road to Emerald City and keeping her eye on the ultimate prize: getting back home.

Kit—a wannabe investigative reporter—makes it her mission to avoid the foreclosure of her family's home, proving she's got as much pluck as a certain other Depression-era heroine with a hard knock life.

A young orphan's heart opens and imagination awakens in this widely praised adaptation of the well-known novel. Added bonus: a pre-Dowager Countess Maggie Smith is in it!

Originally released as a Canadian TV movie, this adaptation of the beloved Lucy Maud Montgomery novel shows the intelligent and spirited Anne getting into plenty of trouble, and also personally blossoming, on the farm of her newly adoptive parents.

Plenty of girls seek to emulate female athletes. But this sleeper hit reminded us that they also can strive to follow in the goal-scoring footsteps of men, too.

Hayao Miyazaki deserves a major award for focusing so many of his magical anime tales on girls. This one is about a 13-year-old witch forced to live on her own for the first time and finding out that she has the power to not only survive, but soar.

The youngest of the Pevensie children, played by Georgie Henley, is Narnia's most devout believer, a lion's best friend and a proud leader who rises to become one of Narnia's queens.

Well, didn't you want to be her—in all her empowered beauty—when you were a kid?

A vapid, shopaholic as a role model for pre-teen and teen girls? Well, yes, because as Alicia Silverstone portrays Cher in this riff on Jane Austen's Emma, she turns into someone intellectually curious, giving and capable of proving that there's more inside her book than that California-blond cover suggests.

Before there was Brave's Merida, there was Jessie, the first notable female character in the Pixar universe and one whose Toy Story 2 triumph over fear and mistrust can serve as an inspiration for withdrawn girls secretly eager to emerge from their shells.

Arguably the first of the thinking woman's Disney princesses, Belle is bookish, independent and not afraid to tell the arrogant Gaston to shove it.

The animated realization of a Neil Gaiman creation, Coraline is curious and inquisitive enough to uncover a portal to a parallel world, but also resourceful enough to get the heck out of there when her button-eyed mother gets a little too creepy for comfort.

The director of The Black Stallion paints another lovely portrait of a child becoming one with nature; in this case, it's the story of a gaggle of baby geese who imprint on a young Anna Paquin, forcing her to figure out how to help them migrate south for the winter.

Julia Stiles's Kat may be the "shrew" in this Taming of the Shrew update. But that means she's intelligent, determined to continue her education at the liberal arts college of her choice and astute enough to date Heath Ledger when the opportunity presents itself.

Yes, it's a Cinderella story. But it's one with a Cinderella—played by Drew Barrymore—who actually has a backbone.

This modern Disney version of the heroine with the long locks is feisty, artistically gifted and capable of magically saving her man—the roguish Flynn Rider—when all seems lost.

Yes, the Broadway version is better. But even in the Hollywood one starring Aileen Quinn, Annie is a fiery ball of redheaded optimism and proof that even a hard knock life can change for the better.

A tiny borrower with a generous heart, she brings comfort to a sick boy and proves it's possible to create male/female bonds based on friendship.

A critically acclaimed John Sayles film that Roger Ebert called an "exhilarating account of the way Fiona rediscovers her family's history and reclaims their island."

In junior high, most kids want to blend in as seamlessly as possible, which is kind of hard when you have superpowers. But Violet—voiced memorably by writer Sarah Vowell—learns that having the power to become invisible is nothing to hide.

Kirsten Dunst's Torrance has her strong points. But Eliza Dushku's Missy—the gutsy gymnast who reluctantly joins the Toros—shatters more stereotypes, both about the kinds of girls who become cheerleaders and what's involved in participating in an activity that, yes, really is a team sport.

Matilda is academically advanced, determined to succeed despite ridiculously negligent parents and capable of using her telekinetic powers to triumph over her evil principal. A good primer for this who plan to see the Broadway musical.

Want to help your preteen or teenage girl avoid body-image issues? Sit her down in front of this musical and let her see how confidently Tracy shakes her tail feather, winning the heart of no less than Zac Efron.

A sensitive depiction of the very different relationships between a blossoming girl and her mother and father, this adaptation of the revered novel earned a juvenile acting Oscar for Peggy Ann Garner.

The adorable Lilo: smart enough to know that the best way to ease an alien being's transition to life on Earth is by teaching him to act like Elvis Presley.

Ah, the '70s: a time when Hollywood made movies in which kids smoked, drank beer and used jaw-dropping ethnic slurs. For obvious reasons, this one's just for older preteens/teens, and worth watching for Tatum O'Neal's Amanda, a girl who takes ballet and can fire a killer fast ball right across the plate.

A movie that mashes up elements from several Ramona books but still manages to capture the frustrations of elementary school, and all the bravery it requires.

Jennifer Connolly's Sarah must demonstrate cleverness, resourcefulness and bravery in the face of creepy Muppets and David Bowie looking pretty weird, even for David Bowie.

There are multiple versions of the famous story about a Swiss orphan with an angel's heart and a hope that heals all. Choosing this one will give parents an excuse to introduce their kids to Hollywood's first, biggest child star: Shirley Temple.

This little-seen indie features the type of girl (Valentina de Angelis) rarely seen in contemporary films: home-schooled, intellectual, living a modest existence in middle-of-nowhere New Mexico and hungry to break free from her parents and encounter a wider world.

She's a female fairy who saves the environment from toxic pollution. That's worthy of a spot on this list.

Not a substitute for the books—nothing ever is. But not a bad way to see that exuberant Paris girl come to life on the screen.

Teenagers tend not to handle unrequited love very gracefully. But in this sweet '80s teen film, Kerri Green's Maggie shows genuine care and affection for Corey Haim's puny Lucas, while also making it clear that she's just interested in friendship.

This is one of the rare times that Lindsay Lohan can be viewed as a potential role model. Seriously, she was pretty great in this updated adaptation of the book and '70s movie about a rebellious teen who learns to appreciate her mother (Jamie Lee Curtis), post-body swap.

Some cynical adults may find this saccharine Disney movie too much to tolerate. But kids still may learn something valuable from Mills's capacity to find hope and sunshine at every turn.

A gutsy girl travels cross-country during the Great Depression with only a dog and, for part of the time, John Cusack to keep her company.

This updated take on everyone's favorite girl mystery-solver—played by Emma Roberts and, oddly, transplanted to Los Angeles—may delight young girls yearning to go looking for clues.

The hippest and most empowered of Molly Ringwald's roles as a John Hughes muse, Andie lives on the wrong side of the tracks, but totally owns thrift store chic, supports her struggling father and makes it her mission to let the richies know she won't let them break her.

The spunky video game racer—voiced by Sarah Silverman and shunned for supposedly being a coding glitch—ultimately triumphs over digitally programmed mean girls thanks to her optimistic spirit and the support of a true friend: the equally ostracized Ralph.